What NCIS: Los Angeles star died? The actress was just 45
Fans of NCIS: Los Angeles — and of a certain beloved Australian drama — lost a familiar face in December 2025. Her family shared the news themselves, and the details are sadder for how quietly it happened.
What happened
Australian actress Rachael Carpani died on December 7, 2025, in Sydney. She was 45. Her sister, Georgia, announced the news on December 15 with a statement from their parents on social media, which said Carpani had
"unexpectedly but peacefully passed away after a long battle with chronic illness," in the early hours of that Sunday.
The family said her funeral would be held privately on December 19 with close family and friends, and asked for privacy. No further details about her illness were shared, though Carpani had spoken in 2021 about being hospitalized with abdominal pain that required surgery.
Her NCIS: Los Angeles role
Carpani appeared in the show's first season, in a 2009 episode alongside Chris O'Donnell and LL Cool J — a small role, but one that came during her push into American television after finding fame at home.
The career she was really known for
For Australian audiences, Carpani was Jodi Fountain. She played the character across 179 episodes of McLeod's Daughters from 2001 to 2009, a main cast member for the show's first seven seasons — a role she landed while still in drama school, deferring her final year to take it.
Her other credits stacked up on both sides of the Pacific:
- Against the Wall — the lead role in Lifetime's 2011 police drama.
- The Glades — three episodes of the A&E crime series.
- The Way Back — the 2020 film starring Ben Affleck.
- Home and Away — a 2024 role as Claudia Salini, her return to Australian screens.
She also appeared in Cane, Stalker, the thriller Triangle with Liam Hemsworth, and TV movies including If There Be Thorns.
Fans of McLeod's Daughters filled her sister's announcement with condolences from around the world, including messages from fan communities as far away as Germany. Just three months earlier, in September, Carpani had celebrated her 45th birthday with her family and written about how loved she felt.